NATURE NOTES

Press, Volume LXXIV, Issue 22335, 24 February 1938, Page 6 (Supplement)

NATURE NOTES

Neither hive nor humble bees are native to New Zealand. The first record of the introduction of the hive bees dates back nearly 100 years, when, on March 13, 1839, two hives of common black 'bees were landed at Hokianga._ Later importations of other English and Italian bees resulted in placing the honey industry on a sound basis. Today we have something like 120,000 hives 'of bees producing about 3000 tons of honey a year. In' an indirect way the _ humble bee is no less valuable. Without it we would not be able to produce ted clover seed in New Zealand. There is still much red clover in power in Canterbury. Watch some plants carefully for a time. They seem to have no attraction for hive 'bees. Pull out a few florets and tuck the lower end, noticing the large amount of nectar produced. ,1a fact, red clover flowers contain pinch . more nectar than white Clover from which hive bees obtain isnost'of our commercial honey.

Theijack pf attraction is not due to the absence of nectar but to the length of the corolla tube. To reach *the nectar at the base of a red clover floret, the proboscis or longue of an insect must be from Bto 10 millimetres long. (A millimetre is about one twenty-fifth of an inch.) The tongu§ of a hive bee is only six millimetres long. Some red clover florets are shorter than normal and it is possible for hive bees to reach the nectar, and in so doing to pollinate the flower. Moths, which have long tongues, also cause pollination. Unta 1885 it was impossible to obtain more than a few pounds of Wed from a large paddock of red clover. These few pounds were probably the result of the small amount of pollination brought about l by hive bees on the shorter florets, and by moths. In 1876 the Canterbury Acclimatisation Society made the first attempt to help the farmers with red clover seed production by importing humble bees from England, Unfortunately all the bees were dead on arrival as was the case with several other attempts made by private individuals. The first live bees were liberated at Timaru in 1883, but were not seen again. Success finally rewarded the Canterbury society’s efforts early in 1885, when 45 live bees were brought by the s.s. Tongariro and 48 by the s.s. Aorangi. The first lot was liberated on Mr Deans’s estate at Riccarton, and the second on Mr C. Clark’s property near the foot of the Port Hills. Both lots of bees were strong and healthy and many of them succeeded in establishing themselves. The first nest was found in Hagley Park in the following April. The progeny of these two liberations spread over the country with remarkable rapidity. Twelve months later some were seen at Mount Peel, 85 miles away, and others at Castle HIIL 64 miles in another direction. Early in 1887 they had reached Kaikoura and Timaru. In five years they had reached Invercargill and bad spread over the whole of the eastern half of the South Island. Whole nests and Queens were sent to the North Island, where they .. ??dn became successfully established.

. Very quickly reports began to cone -in of good yields of red Clover seed. In February, 1886, on Avonhead Farm, near Riccarton,

HUMBLE BEES (Continued)

(By L. W. McCaskill)

each head of clover was found to be full of seed. In “The Press” of July 19, 1888, it was reported: “We saw on Saturday last on the farm of Mr G. H. Martin, Eyreton, three tons of red clover seed of this season’s growth. It may now be considered as quite certain that the humble bee is fairly established, and that the bee has been working to good purpose in the interests of farmers.” By 1895 it was calculated that red clover seed to the value of £200,000 had been harvested as a result of the work of the humble bees. One interesting thing about the bees that were imported was that some were quite useless for the purpose of pollinating red clover. One of the species was Bombus terrestris, and this is our commonest kind to-day. The tongue of this bee is only seven millimetres long in the case of the workers and nine

millimetres in the case of the queen. These are the bees which because of their short tongues have developed the objectionable habit of cutting directly into the ovaries of certain flowers to get at the nectar. Another peculiar point is that it is not possible to get a payable crop of seed everywhere red clover grows well. In' some places very little seed is obtained; a few miles away heavy crops are harvested. Such a difference is not due to climate; there must be local conditions which favour the increase of the useful bees in one place and not in the other. . In one part of England it was once suggested that there might be some connexion between the number of cats in a district and the yield of red clover seed. It seems that a grbat enemy of the humble ■bee in England is the field mouse which eats the nest and prevents the development of a sufficient number Of worker bees by the time the clover is in flower. It was suggested that if there were plenty of cats in the district, there would be a reduction in the numbers of field mice and consequently a larger number of bees. This led to the further suggestion that if there were plenty of old maids in any district there would be a bumper yield of red clover seed. (Old maids are supposed to be fond of cats.)